Furikake-Crusted Salmon

Author Notes

The internet is filled with 1001 ways to cook salmon — grilled, pan-fried, air-fried, steamed, broiled, butter-basted, mashed into patties, baked and flaked into pasta. For every cooking technique that exists, there’s probably a salmon recipe for it.

And I’m all for it, because salmon is one of the most versatile, low-effort, hard-to-screw-up things to cook as a busy weeknight dinner or a quick meal prep-friendly dish. Plus it’s tasty too! Like many of you, I’m a sucker for a good, reliable salmon recipe. So here’s one of my go-tos.

The dish is a versatile one. It harnesses the savory umami of furikake — a ready-made Japanese condiment that’s a combination of sesame seeds, bonito flakes and nori seaweed — and imparts it onto the salmon in three simple steps. First, brush the salmon all over with a honey mustard marinade. Second, roll it in furikake. And third, bake! And in a mere 20 minutes or less, you’ll end up with one of the tastiest, easiest salmon dishes you’ll have ever made.

And the best part is, even after baking, there are a handful of ways to enjoy it. You can have it whole as a protein main, flake it and toss it into salads or pasta, or fancy it up and bake a whole salmon this way to bring to a potluck or dinner party. Personally, I sometimes even mash up the crusted salmon post-bake, and mix it with rice, turning it into an easy rice bowl or poke meal. With so many ways to salmon, I’ll likely never get bored of this dish. —Jun